On the evening of November 21, 1995, near the end of her shift, Patty Milliken told her co-worker at a Biloxi convenience store that she was going to go outside with Mitchell to smoke a cigarette and talk.   She left her purse and car keys in the convenience store.   When she did not return, her co-worker reported to the police that she was missing.   Milliken had written Mitchell’s telephone number on a piece of paper that the police found in her purse.   The police cross-referenced the telephone number to an address.   When they arrived at that address, Mitchell, who was in the yard, ran from them.   The police later spotted Mitchell at a gas station, and pursued him when he fled from the gas station in his car.   He was arrested for traffic violations.

Milliken’s body was found the following morning under a bridge.   She had been beaten, strangled, sexually assaulted, and crushed after having been run over by a car.   After the police searched Mitchell’s car, he was charged with Milliken’s murder.   At the time of Milliken’s murder, Mitchell was under a sentence of life imprisonment for a previous murder, and had been on parole for approximately eleven months. The jury found Mitchell guilty of capital murder. 

The jury did not find Mitchell’s mitigating evidence to be persuasive, and he was sentenced to death.   The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on March 29, 2001, and denied rehearing on August 23, 2001.   Mitchell v. State, 792 So.2d 192 (Miss.2001).   The Supreme Court denied certiorari.  Mitchell v. Mississippi, 535 U.S. 933 (2002).

• On March 31, 2010, Mitchell filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit over the denial of his habeas petition in Federal District Court.

            http://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca5/10-70006/

• 05/16/2011 Mitchell filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit, DENY Mitchell’s request for a COA

United States court of appeals for the fifth circuit

• Mississippi Supreme  Curt decision march, 2012
  

  William Gerald Mitchell a/k/a William Jerald Mitchell v. State of Mississippi Motion for rehearing filed by counsel for William Gerald Mitchell is denied. To Deny: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. To Grant: Dickinson, P.J., Kitchens and King, JJ. Order entered.

  2012-DR-00277-SCT

  03/15/12